Vasile Goncear

From the oldest times the village Hoginești was one of the most famous ceramic centers in the country. Local ceramists dynasty counts not less than 10 generations of craftsmen, which has a meaningful name – Goncear. The last potter from one of the biggest dynasties of potters in Moldova that existed until now is Vasile Goncear, a craftsman in the art of pottery.

From 1992 to 1996 he worked as a potter in Moldova. For one year he made the quantity of earthenware as did other potters in four years. He participated at exhibitions of craftsmen in Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine.He initially worked in his native village, but once he accumulated experience and mastery he goes to Italy, where he set up his workshop and started to earn a living for himself and his family.

Acording to Vasile, to make a life there was enough, and the number of the orders really big, but more often Vasile remembered his homeland, and more often was feeling burdened by the fact the he was in a foreign country. In those 15 years that he lived in Italy he has mastered all that is progressive in the world ceramics, became known in the world, enjoyed the esteem and respect of his colleagues and earned pretty good.

However he felt foreign on this land. That’s why Vasile, together with his wife and kids in 2009 returned definitively to Hoginesti. He brought a lot of equipment from Italy, primary an electric kiln and began to take roots on his homeland. All the money he earned abroad he invested in Hoginesti.

Vasile Goncear wants to share his calling with all the children from Moldova. That why he put on order to promote the art of pottery in schools. He says, "We must learn from others all the best, but to promote autochthonous".